Abstract: A stent and method for manufacturing a stent comprising an expandable, generally tubular body portion in which one or both ends of the stent are provided with a generally rounded, smooth radiused portion that forms a bulbous protrusion out of the plane of the circumference of the stent. The design of the stent increases the profile of the end of the stent and decreases the risk of injury or vessel dissection during stent deployment.

Abstract: An apparatus for transverse planar cutting of cornea to expose a corneal surface to allow correction of myopia, apparatus including a corneal suction ring including a cornea engaging surface on side thereof and microkeratome guide surfaces on an opposite site, the guide surfaces being spaced apart, parallel and extend along opposite site of an aperture arranged for exposing a portion of a cornea, a shift member releasably mounted to an outer wall of the suction ring, a microkeratome including a cutting blade driven by a motor to execute a transverse planar cutting of cornea surface exposed by the cornea suction ring, the microkeratome cutting head having guide surfaces, engaging the corresponding guide surfaces on the cornea suction ring, and an actuator connecting the shift member and the microkeratome for controlling relative movement between the corneal suction ring and the cutting head of the microkeratome.

Abstract: Methods and devices for harvesting veins from the body. The methods and devices allow vein harvesting using laparoscopic procedures. A working space is created over the vein using standard laparoscopic procedures and a side-hooked wire is inserted into the working space and twisted to insert the side-hook under the vein. The wire is then pulled or drawn along the vein to separate the vein from the surrounding tissue. In an alternative embodiment, vein separation is accomplished by threading a soft rubber tube under the vein, grasping the ends of the tube so as to surround the vein, and then pulling the tube along the vein. In other embodiments, the working space is created with everting balloons.

Abstract: An artery clamp includes an inelastic girth band having an interior face and an exterior face. The band is secured about a limb. A plunger extends through the band. The plunger has a first end extending past the interior face and a second end extending past the exterior face. A pressure member mounted on the first end of the plunger. Pressure is exerted with the plunger and then the plunger is locked in a selected position in relation to the band.

Abstract: A device for sterilizing females by occluding the uterotubal junction. The device includes a catheter with a releasable heat generating plug which is used to thermally damage the uterotubal junction and cause it to constrict around the plug, after which the plug is released from the catheter and left in place in the uterotubal junction.

Abstract: The invention relates to a procedure as well as a device for introducing an endoprosthesis into the distal end of a catheter by means of which the endoprosthesis is introduced into a vessel for implantation therein and is released to undergo self expansion by moving the tip of a catheter axially relative to the distal end of an outer catheter. An embodiment of the proposed device comprises a hollow cylindrical housing designed to receive the endoprosthesis, a piston axially displaceable therein which can be brought into engagement with the endoprosthesis, and a nose section arranged at one end of the housing, said nose section being provided with a recess tapering in the direction of an opening, and by means of said recess the endoprosthesis supplied by the piston may be introduced, with compressed diameter and in elongated form, into the distal end of the catheter replaceably arranged on the nose section.

Abstract: A balloon dilatation catheter used for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty includes an inner tube and an outer tube. The anchor joint of the inner tube and outer tube is permit distal movement of the inner tube with respect to the outer tube while precluding proximal movement of the inner tube with respect to the outer tube. The outer tube is not immovably secured to the inner tube but, rather, may be slidably disposed on the inner tube. The distal end of the outer tube may be tapered to reduced diameter that permits the tapered portion to move longitudinally with respect to the inner tube. The inner tube is provided with an abutment member against which an abutment surface to the outer tube may abut.

Abstract: A stent for disposition in a body passageway or duct to maintain the duct walls apart, for example, to allow the flow of fluid therethrough, includes an elongate flexible support wire formed into an annular lattice having a central void, for disposition at a target location in the duct. Also included is an elongate flexible connecting wire joined at a distal end to the annular lattice and having a discontinuity for severing when supplied with a perturbation signal, a balloon catheter having an expandable section disposable in the void of the annular lattice so that when the expandable section is expanded, it forces the annular lattice radially outwardly to contact and hold apart the duct walls, and a fluid supply for supplying fluid to the expandable section of the balloon catheter to cause it to expand. A perturbation signal source is provided for supplying the perturbation signal to the discontinuity of the connecting wire to cause severance thereof.

Abstract: A device for intra operative atraumatic dilatation, comprising a rigid tube with an inflatable balloon mounted near one end of the tube and an air bulb mounted near the other end of the tube. The rigid tube together with the balloon and the air bulb form a hermetically sealed volume. In the normal state of the device, the balloon is deflated and the air bulb contains a fluid. In the intestine dilating state, the surgeon applies a pressure on the air bulb, this resulting in a volume of the air in the bulb passing through the rigid tube to the balloon, which is thus inflated. When the surgeon removes the pressure on the air bulb, the device returns to its normal state in which the balloon is deflated. The balloon is made of a generally elastic material which in its deflated state has a diameter similar to that of the tube so that the balloon clasps the tube, to present a low profile so as not to interfere with the insertion of the device into an intestine.

Abstract: A medical device for treating a body vessel with a radioactive source includes an elongated tubular catheter and an axially flexible support structure on a distal end of the catheter. The catheter has proximal and distal ends, and a lumen for receiving a radioactive source. The support structure is formed from a plurality of filaments which are helically wound and interwoven in a braided configuration and has a plurality of alternately spaced unconstricted and constricted regions. The unconstricted regions are radially compressible and self-expandable from a positioning diameter when the device is in a positioning state to a vessel-engaging, treatment diameter which is greater than the positioning diameter when the device is in the treatment state. The constricted regions are engaged with the catheter and concentric with the unconstricted regions.

Abstract: A medical device delivery system, having a rolling retractable sheath covering a medical device mounting region on the system is disclosed. The rolling retractable sheath comprises an inner wall and an outer wall and may be formed of one or more materials, optionally porous. Optionally, a lubricant may be applied selectively to the interior and exterior walls of the stent.

Abstract: The fetal contact cup portion of a fetal vacuum cup has an inside surface which, when applied to a fetal head, defines a fetal contact chamber with the fetal head. One end of a tube is attached to the fetal contact cup such that vacuums within the tube are applied within the fetal contact cup. The other end of the tube can be connected with a vacuum source and with a handle. The tube has a very small average outside diameter compared with conventional fetal vacuum tubes. Thus the fetal vacuum cup is less intrusive during insertion and is more easily maneuverable, especially when the fetus is malpresenting in, for example, the high occipitoposterior or high occipitolateral positions. The average outside diameter of the tube may be, for example, less than 150 mils and has a finger grip that compression fits into a recess defined by the outer surface of the fetal contact cup for a lower profile and easy positioning of the fetal contact cup onto the flexion point of the fetal head.

Abstract: In a corneal surgical apparatus for incising a cornea of a patient's eye in a layered form, a suction ring is fixedly provided on a main body. The suction ring has an opening from which the cornea of the patient's eye is projected. An applanating portion is provided, which has a flat side abutting against the cornea of the patient eye projected from the opening of the suction ring. A blade is supported movably along said suction ring in a space defined between the suction ring and the flat side of the applanating portion. A projection is associated with the blade to increase the space as the blade incises the cornea.

Abstract: Microfabricated therapeutic actuators are fabricated using a shape memory polymer (SMP), a polyurethane-based material that undergoes a phase transformation at a specified temperature (Tg). At a temperature above temperature Tg material is soft and can be easily reshaped into another configuration. As the temperature is lowered below temperature Tg the new shape is fixed and locked in as long as the material stays below temperature Tg. Upon reheating the material to a temperature above Tg, the material will return to its original shape. By the use of such SMP material, SMP microtubing can be used as a retaining/release actuator for the delivery of material, such as embolic coils, for example, through catheters into aneurysms, for example. The microtubing can be manufactured in various sizes and the phase change temperature Tg is determinate for an intended temperature target and intended use. The SMP microtubing can be positioned around or within an end of a deposit material.

Abstract: A device for implanting a small-diameter capillary graft into the scalp, comprising a hollow needle pierced by a throughbore having a smaller diameter than the graft and suitable for gripping, by its end, one end of the said graft through the needle. The needle is mounted so as to slide in a cylindrical sheath between a first position, in which the needle is retracted inside the sheath, and a second position for gripping and for inserting the graft into the scalp, in which the needle projects beyond the end of the sheath. The needle is actuated between the first and second positions, preferably by application and release of a vacuum to an enclosure which is defined by a cylindrical tube and which is closed on a first side by the sheath and on a second side by a plug fastened to a distal end of the needle.

Abstract: A stent for reinforcing a vessel wall is disclosed, the stent being expandable and comprised of a shape memory alloy which in the normal implanted condition is in the martensitic phase at body temperature, the stent further having a larger parent or austenitic shape and diameter when heated above its transition temperature.

Abstract: A pacifier for infants and the like includes a two-part teethable handle construction having a rigid inner handle member and a soft outer handle member. The rigid inner handle member is connected with the pacifier and has an outer surface shaped for grasping. The soft outer handle member overlies at least a portion of the outer surface of the rigid inner handle member and is securely connected therewith to define a chewable portion of the handle construction adapted for teething.

Abstract: A gripping unit for application in Minimally Invasive Surgery includes a stationary jaw (2) rigidly attached to a base section (4), a movable jaw (1) connected via a joint (5) to a push/pull rod (3), and an operating handle (6). The stationary jaw (2), the movable jaw (1), the push/pull rod (3) and the base section (4) have, in the longitudinal direction of the gripping unit, a channel (9) to receive an additional instrument (7), designed so that the channels (9, 30) in the base section (4) and in the push/pull rod (3) together form a circular conduit.

Abstract: A process for simultaneously shaping and sharpening a cutting widow at the distal end of a tubular member of a rotary blade assembly. The assembly is provided with a stationary elongated outer tube, having a cutting window at its distal tip and includes a rotatable elongated inner tube having a cutting means at its distal tip. The window in the outer tube has a curvilinear profile defined by a peripheral rim surrounded entirely by a land surface which is inclined relative to the rim. The inclination of the land produces an area which tapers from a full thickness, where the land is adjacent to the cylindrical wall of the outer tube, to a sharp edge around the periphery of the window. The curvilinear window is produced by a manufacturing process which creates the window opening with a sharpened periphery at the same time that the land surrounding the opening is inclined.

Abstract: A medical device and method are described for performing Trans Myocardial Revascularization (TMR) in a human heart. The device consists of a myocardial implant and a directable intracardiac catherter that are suited for delivery into a heart wall of the implant. The catheter utilizes a percutaneous, minimally-invasive access to reach the inner surface of the heart chambers. The catheter provides a conduit for advancing multiple myocardial implants to the heart wall. The implant may include anchoring elements or a retainer for holding the implant body into the heart wall. The implant may include a tapered leading end, and can be advanced into the heart wall using a rotational or a pushing technique until the implant is fully deployed. The implant is then released from the catheter, and another implant inserted into the catheter, or the catheter withdrawn from the human body.